Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

[shoeseat]

Hello Guys, I have an xperia arc with SI number 1247-0087 which is not getting ICS 4.0.4 till now.I am tired of waiting and checking the list eveyday(almost 1 month now).It seems like there won't be update for my phone for some reason.

I am running out of patience so thinking of flasing my arc with rom discussed in this forum and xda developer but i have one problem.I live in Nepal, so when i bought my arc it has firmware 2.3.3, when i updated my phone to 2.3.4 i got O2 logo when starting  my phone and there are couple of other apps like O2 priority members,wisepilot etc.I don't know whether these apps where there in my mobile when i bought it and the firmware was 2.3.4 cause i updated my phone to 2.3.4 within hours when i bought it and connected to my computer.

I am using the sim for my local country without any problem in this mobile so i guess it's ulocked phone  which was brought here to sell as there isn't any authorised dealer on sony in my country.Now i want to know whether i can flash my phone with roms available for xperia arc?Will flashing lock my phone to O2 and i have to unlock again? As i said earlier i upated from 2.3.3 to 2.3.4 without problem.So will flashing rom causing any lock issue?Please guys help me on this.

[FrontierGate]

Did you talk to your local mobile phone service carrier?  Will they offer the update later?  Considering you bought the phone locally in your country?

Yes, you can flash ICS 4.04 unofficially (it is really safe, don't worry), and it doesn't even matter if your phone is simlocked or not.

There are a couple of international and/or country-specific firmwares out here for you to choose from.

All your 02 apps supposedly come from an 02 priority branded UK firmware.  You can flash a generic firmware or a carrier-branded firmware; it is all up to you.

A short list of generic firmware here:

http://www.wotanserver.com/en/sony-ericsson/se/xperia-arc-lt15/4-1-b-0-431/language-download

[shoeseat]

Thankx for the reply but i bought this phone in store and my carrier is not related to phone.We only buy sim from carrier here and mobiles from  local stores.

So you are saying it's safe to flash the rom in my mobile right?It will not lock my phone after flashing?How about moded roms from xda forum?will they lock my phone?If i am flashing my phone then i am thiking of flashing it with modded rom xda forum which looks better than default sony one.

Again i just want to make absolutely sure flashing won't lock my phone as i may not be albe to unlock my phone again here.

[Nabeel · Accepted solution]

Flahing won't lock your mobile again, infact you will get debranded. Means all the apps of orange will disappear

If you wan't to flash then follow the thread here

[shoeseat]

Thankx for the clearification and the link.I will flash my phone if the update doesn't come in 2/3 days.
Hope everything goes well without problem.

[shoeseat]

Do i need to root my phone ro do flashing? sorry but this is my first flashing :smileygrin:

[Nabeel]

Nopes you don't need to root

[shoeseat]

Hai Nabeel i was about to flash my phone when i saw simlock.ta on my firmware.I searched via google and found this thread with simlock problem http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1695380

That guy ended up paying some $20 to unlock his phone again.What are the chances it will happen to my phone cause i don't have credit card to buy unlock tool.

Please help me to know in what case the sim will be locked.

[Nabeel]

i guess, only if you unlocked your phone before

During flashing with flashtool if you get the option to exclude SimLock.Ta then mark it

[shoeseat]

Is there any way to know if the phone is unlocked previously as i don't know what the local store did to phone before selling it to me.It may have be unlocked or mey be it's free sim one.I did told them why there is O2 logo when starting phone but they don't give clear answer and said it came from Uk i think.Also there was 2 sms in the mobile when i purchased the phone from O2 uk but don't know if ti's for unlocked one as there is not code in sms.When i showed those sms to the guy on store he deleted them in hurry.i got very angry :smileyangry:. Althought they told me it won't get locked when i update(i did update from 2.3.3 to 2.3.4 without problem) i don't trust those guys.

can we know if the phone is unlocked one from say some IMIE numbers or any method?Thankx in advance Nabeel you are very helpful.I have attached

my mobile info,hope it helps also the bootloader unlock allowed: Yes.

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